It appears that Bronx politicians have their priorities a little misconstrued.
26 Bronx politicians, including Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., recently penned a letter to Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, to consider opening an Apple location in the Bronx. The Apple Store has 10 locations in New York City and none of them are in the Bronx. The article continues to say:
The letter, which was signed by more than a dozen members of Congress, City Council members, and state senators, read, “Few brands are as recognized and admired as Apple, and an ‘Apple Bronx’ location would be another signal to the world that The Bronx is open for business. It is time for The Bronx to get its bite of the Apple!”
So instead of trying to save the only bookstore in the Bronx, politicians are busy trying to add another electronic store to the Bronx’s roster. When I wrote about this issue last week, some of you commented about the lack of encouragement to read in today’s society and this push to bring another electronic store into borough that has school districts with low literacy rates just shows where their priority lies. This is more about the money than about the actual intellectual learning.
And the hits keeps coming. It was announced yesterday that Saks OFF 5TH, a subsidiary of Saks Fifth Avenue, will move into the location Barnes & Noble currently resides at Bay Plaza. Is this more evidence against Prestige Properties, materialism much higher than cultural literacy? Now before you say that Prestige is evil, you might want to read this excerpt from this article:
Prestige Properties stated that Barnes & Noble has determined that the existing store size and format is no longer feasible to support their business model, and therefore, has chosen to end their lease at the Bay Plaza location.
“Barnes & Noble has been an important and valuable tenant at Bay Plaza for years,” a spokesperson from Prestige Properties & Development Company, Inc. said. “We stand ready and welcome the opportunity to meet with Barnes & Noble and discuss other options for their continued presence here, so that we can keep them here as a valuable asset to the Bronx community as well as Bay Plaza.”
Prestige Properties added that the Bay Plaza Shopping Center has offered Barnes & Noble “some very attractive options” for a new store location to meet its new, smaller format.
Again I ask, who is really to blame for this entire mess?